The Outsiders
by InkedRose
Summary: Kaedryn Curtis, the older sister of Ponyboy and girlfriend of Johnny Cade, embarks on the endless journey of surprise and disaster after that fateful night where everything went wrong.


Tulsa, Oklahoma: home to two entirely different social classes in a never-ending rivalry. On the east side, there are boys with leather jackets, switchblades, and slicked back hair who gallivant around the city; steal items off of the convenience store shelves, smuggle cigarettes and harass young women. On the west side, there are clean-cut boys with a prominent reputation, khaki pants, plaid t-shirts and expensive sports cars who swagger around the city; drink alcohol, attend parties, play football and harass the boys from the east side.

The ongoing war between the Greasers and the Socialites (Socs) has gone on for as long I can remember. As a kid, I would watch each end of the spectrum duel one another for the highest rank in society. The title has never been claimed, and the war continues. The Greasers cannot walk down the street without being targeted for harassment or a good beat-down by the Socs. However, I can't say that the Greasers are the victims. The Socs can't walk down their streets without being targeted by the Greasers. I have never known why these social classes cannot manage to be friends and keep some peace, however I simply know that it will always be this way.

From down the street, I can hear a familiar voice calling out for help. I sit up, having been watching Mickey Mouse with Two-Bit on small television back against the living room wall, and go into the dining room; where Darry is handling the expenses of the house with a distressed aura about him. I bite my lip, deciding not to interrupt him and I hurry to Sodapop's room instead, where he is discussing Sandy with Steve. "Soda," I say, and the two boys both turn their heads to look at me – Steve with a bit of a glare.

"Buzz of tumbleweed," Steve says and waves his arm at me. "We're having an all-adult discussion, and you're too much of a kid to be talkin' about this kind of stuff." I sneer at him and look back to Soda.

"I think I hear Ponyboy screamin' from down the street," I explain in a rushed voice. "I think the Socs got ahold of him!"

The thought of Ponyboy being in the hands of the Socialites causes Soda to jump onto his feet, tug Steve along and hurry into the dining room to inform Darry. When Sodapop's urgent voice travels throughout the house, all different boys begin to gather around the table to listen to what he has to say. A gang member is in trouble, and we can't sit back and allow that to happen.

I am the first out of the old, rickety house that I reside in with my brothers. I can feel a sense of guilt twisting inside of myself because I knew Ponyboy had gone to see a movie – I am the only one who knows because he can't trust the rest of the gang with his deepest secrets. They don't understand his love of literature and films – they think that's silly kid stuff, but I think it's great.

Darry shoves himself out of the house, and I can see that he's ready to beat down some Socs. He begins to jog in the direction of the screams and when Darrel Curtis moves; the rest of us move. "Where the hell did that boy go?" he asks in my direction, as I remain light on my feet to keep up with him.

"To see a movie," I answer in a timid tone of voice, "He didn't want anybody else to know because they all think of him as a plain old kid, and he doesn't want to be thought of like that…"

"That boy don't even use his head," Darry says, shaking his own head and cursing under his breath, "What a fool."

I bite my lip to avoid retaliating. Trying to defend my younger brother in verbal words is the least of my worries at the moment – my main worry at the moment is to defend my younger brother physically. The seven of us approach the five of the west-side Socs beating on Ponyboy, and we begin to holler and scream at them. I can see Dallas pick up a big branch, and he begins to chase after the Socs with it and smash at their Mustang headlights. Steve and Sodapop follow after Dallas and pound on the car windows with their hands, but the boys quickly drive away before any harm can really be done to them.

I hurry over to Ponyboy and I help Darrel pull him onto his feet. "You all right?" Darry asks, beginning to shake our younger brother a bit fiercely. There is a bleeding wound along the side of his head that had been made by a switchblade, "Hello, are you alright?" he asks, making his voice louder.

"I'm alright," Ponyboy says, sounding spacey and dazed for a moment, "I'm alright, Darry! Will ya quit shakin' me?"

I watch Darry let go of him quickly and apologize, but I can tell that Ponyboy doesn't believe the apology. Our older brother isn't so bad – he seems a lot harsher than he really means to. It comes with responsibility, I think.

"They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?" I ask him, glancing up to Darry quickly before averting my eyes away from him, "You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ponyboy says and rubs at his eyes for a moment, "Nothin' happened to me."

"You sure about that?" Sodapop asks, dampening a handkerchief with his tongue and he presses the cloth to the side of Ponyboy's head, "You're bleedin' like a stuck pig!"

"I am?" he asks, seems dumbfounded and confused.

"Yeah!" Sodapop exclaims and pulls his arm back to show his brother the reddened cloth.

"Did they pull a blade on you?" Darry asks, suddenly sounding furious.

"I guess so," Ponyboy says and touches his hand to the side of his head, then grabs the handkerchief from Soda's hand and wipes the blood off of his hand, "I'm sorry, Darry."

"No you're not," our older brother replies and glares at him for a moment. "What were you doing walking alone? You know one of us would have come with you if you had asked! I swear you never use your head, kid."

"I didn't want to ask," Ponyboy replies a bit timidly, and I can see his cheeks growing pink with embarrassment, "I know how y'all feel about goin' to the movies… It don't mean nothin' to you – not like it does to me."

"I still wouldn't want you walkin' alone!" Darry exclaims and shakes his head at the boy standing in front of him. "You gotta use your head, you're gonna end up lunchmeat for the Socs!"

Before Ponyboy can reply to Darry, the rest of the gang comes ambling back over to us with somewhat triumphant smiles on their faces, but they had only managed to chase the group of boys away. "Those damn Socs are a real pain," Steve says and takes his comb to twist his greasy hair into far more complicated swirls than they were before, "One day I'll give 'em a real good beatin'."

"One day we all will," Darry says in a sarcastic tone and rolls his eyes and looks back to Ponyboy. "No more goin' out alone, you hear me? I'm not about to run down here everyday to protect my foolish kid brother."

"Teach him a few tactics and Pony will be good enough to defend himself," says the white-haired Dallas, who leans against a fence to a home that we're close to, and he lights up a cigarette and begins to puff off of it. "How 'bout I scrape him up sometime and teach me the ways of rumblin'?"

"No thank you," Darry says to Dallas and shakes his head. "The last thing I need to worry about is Ponyboy getting himself into a whole mess of trouble."

"We're always in a mess of trouble," Pony responds and pushes his hair out of his face in irritation. "We're Greasers – it's unavoidable."

"It's avoidable if you use your head!" our older brother says and waves his arms in irritation, "I know you have the brains for it – so use 'em!"

"Leave my kid brother alone," Soda defends and moves in front of Ponyboy protectively, "He didn't mean no harm."

"When I want advice from my kid brother about how to handle my other kid brother – I'll come to you – kid brother!" Darrel says and glares at Sodapop for a long moment – but the rest of us are aware of what will happen next.

"Don't blow a vein," the second oldest in the family jokes, and Darry cracks a smile. It's rare to see him smiling, but Soda is the only one who can do it. "Come on, let's quit this fightin' and go home."

"Yeah, alright," Darry says and points at Ponyboy, "No more goin' out alone."

"Yes sir," Pony says and bows his head in shame. The gang begins to walk back towards our house and I walk over to my younger brother, and I wrap an arm around his shoulders.

"Don't worry," I tell him, "Darry won't be mad for long."

"Darry is always mad at me," he says and sighs for a moment. "I'm nothin' but a disappointment to him, and he hates me!"

"He doesn't hate you," I reassure him, "He's just a little stressed out."

"And he's takin' it out on me!"

"Don't worry 'bout it," Dallas says, striding up to walk at the other side of Ponyboy, and he is soon joined by the timid Johnny Cade. "We'll go see a movie tomorrow night, alright? Me an' Johnny will come with ya."

"I'll come, too," I add and smile at my younger brother, "You won't be alone, so there's no way that Darry can say no to that!"

"Yeah, alright," Ponyboy says and smiles between the three of us – even though Johnny hasn't, and often doesn't, say a word. "Hey, Dally, when did you get out of the cooler?"

"Not too long ago," Dallas responds and shrugs lazily, butting out the cigarette he had been smoking, "Got out on good behavior."

"I find it hard to believe that you are capable of good behavior," I say and give him an incredulous look. "How many guards did you kill?"

"Nah, I swear," Dallas says and puts his hands up, "My palms are clean," he says, and I look to see them blackened with dirt. "Well, maybe not really, but I didn't kill nobody – I got off on bein' a good boy, I promise, Miss Curtis."

"Quit it," I warn him, "You're startin' to freak me out!"

"I'm just teasin'," he says and shrugs. "I look out for ya."

Our gang is one of the many in the east side of Tulsa, but we're not a real rough, rumbling gang like Tim Shepherd's boys, or the Tiber Street Tigers. We're a closely knitted, not-biologically-related family and the most we can do is look out for one another. Each of us has a unique personality, and we're all different people, but we somehow manage to get along.

My oldest brother, Darrel – Darry – is oldest in our gang. He looks a lot like my father, but he's a bit more uptight that my dad was. He has large, professional fighter muscles and dark hair that he likes to keep relatively near for being a Greaser. His eyes are blue-green, but icy and cold; his eyes are his own. It's obvious to all of us that Darry had grown up far before his time. He's only twenty-years-old and he has the responsibilities for a forty-year-old man. Ever since our parents died in an auto wreck, he has had to take care of Sodapop, Ponyboy and myself. The only reason that Darry was allowed to take care of us is because we promised we'd have good behavior, which is why my siblings and myself do all we can to avoid rumbles and theft and most of all – the fuzz.

Two-Bit Mathews is the second oldest of the gang. He has gray eyes and rust-colored sideburns that he's extremely proud of. He's the wisecracker of the gang – our comedic relief, hence his nickname. So many people forgot that Two-Bit's real name is Keith that even our teachers began to call him by his nickname as well. One of Two-Bit's many specialties is thievery, and his prized possession is a black-handled switchblade which she could not have acquired without his given talent. For some reason, Two-Bit has always liked school, and he's still in it despite his age. Sometimes I ask myself why he likes school, but I think it's just for the kicks.

Dallas Winston is the toughest in all of our gang. He has an elfish face, ears like a lynx, hair so blonde that it's nearly white and small, sharp animal-like teeth. By the age of ten, Dally had already been imprisoned. He's the kind of person who jumps kids, has his own personal record down at the police station, like to steal and rumble and drink. For a long time he prowled around on the hard streets of New York. He's real mean, but he's real smart and all of us respect him. I personally think he's a rather attractive man, but I'm far too young for him according to Darry. It's okay; I didn't want to be with him anyways.

Steve Randle is one of the tougher guys in our gang. He's a genius with women and cars, but he's also Sodapop's best friend. They work together at a local gas station, Steve at part-time and Soda at full-time. That gas station gets a lot of business, maybe because Steve is so good with cars, but I think Sodapop's good looks are a huge contributing factor. Girls tend to flock around that station, and I know that's Soda's doing. Steve has dark hard that he combs back in complicated swirls. He's not too fond of Ponyboy, but I believe that's because Soda always asks Pony to accompany the two of them if they're doing something without their girlfriends, and I think Steve believes that my younger brother asks Soda to go, but he doesn't.

Sodapop has grey-blue eyes, golden hair and the looks of a Greek God. He's the kind of person you would see walking down the street and you would just stop and stare at him. My brother is someone who has a kind soul and a light sense of humor. He is always grinning and it's definitely contagious. When Sodapop Curtis grins, the rest of us grin. Other than myself, he's the only one who can understand that Ponyboy likes movies and books. Although he may not understand why exactly, he accepts Ponyboy for who he is.

Johnny Cade is the next in the gang. If you can think of a lost puppy who has been kicked around too many times – you'll have Johnny. He has dark, tanned skin, black eyes and black hair that fall in shaggy bangs over his forehead. Johnny had always been afraid of his shadow, but even more so after a couple of Socs got ahold of him and assaulted him real bad. I remember the night it happened. He cried for hours and he looked horrible. He was all cut up and bruised really badly, and he earned a battle wound from that night, a long scar starting from his temple to end at his cheekbone. Johnny is everyone's kid brother, and I believe part of that is because his father beats him around real bad and his mother always breathes down his neck. He's a nervous kid at the age of sixteen, and we do all we can to make him feel at home. If it weren't for the gang, I don't think he would ever know love.

Next in the gang is myself – Kaedryn Marie Lynn Curtis. I'm the third oldest in the Curtis family, and the only female. I have red-brown, dark auburn hair and blue-green eyes like Darry, but mine are much warmer. I'm thin, somewhat tall and I have a nice muscular build, which isn't uncommon for girls on the east side. I'm not like the other Greaser girls who wear too much eye makeup and run around in short leather skirts. My skin is relatively pale, and I don't wear too much makeup. Sodapop says I make myself look respectable. I like to wear dresses, but I generally wear jeans and t-shirts. My brothers agree that I'm a real pretty girl, but I guess I don't see it in myself, but I don't think I'm ugly either. I'm just me. I'm fifteen and my chest is somewhat large, but I don't run around showing my cleavage off to everyone. I like to read and see movies, just like Ponyboy. The biggest thing about me is that I'm an aggressive, hardheaded girl and I've been head over heels for Johnny Cade since I was twelve years old.

Next is Carynn Mathews, Two-Bit's younger sister. We haven't seen her yet, but she's still one of us. She's a short little thing with bright bluish-grey eyes and pink lips. She has high cheekbones, an olive complexion and a large chest, but it doesn't look too awkward. Like me, she's aggressive and likes to get into rumbles. She's a thing with Ponyboy and she has been since they were both thirteen, which is really only a year. Her hair is dirty blonde and she's one of the prettiest girls on the east side that I've ever seen. She likes to wear dresses and eye makeup, but it looks good on her. Unlike Two-Bit, she doesn't get into much trouble. She spends most of her days with Ponyboy, and he makes sure that she stays away from the fuzz.

Last is Ponyboy Curtis – my younger brother and the youngest in the gang. His hair is reddish-brown and his eyes are green, which he doesn't always like. He's small for his age, but he's got a nice build. Ponyboy, like me, enjoys reading, sometimes drawing and seeing movies. Not many of the guys in our gang can understand Pony's sensitivity, but I do. He's a smart kid who makes good grades in school and has a high IQ. As stated before, he's with Carynn, who we call 'Rynn.' It's easy for Ponyboy to get along with people and make friends. He's very understanding and compassionate and open-minded, which I really like about him. He is one of the few people who question why the Socs and the Greasers feud so much. The injustice we're faced with is not something he can understand. What have we done that's so wrong?

The gang has huddled into the house and we all sit around on the couches, watching TV and smoking cigarettes. Some of the older boys even gulp down a few beers, "Pony, Johnny, Kae and I will be goin' to see a movie tomorrow," Dallas explains and takes a long, hesitated drag off of his cigarette. "Is that okay with you, man?"

"I don't know," Darry says and looks between my younger brother and me; "I don't know how I feel about my kid siblings running around the city with you – no offense, there, Dally."

"I get what you're sayin'," Dallas says and shrugs for a moment. "It'll be harmless fun, I swear! We're only goin' to see a movie."

"Anything with you ain't harmless fun," Darry says. "Yeah, alright, they can go."

I smile and thank Darry, who just waves his hand at me, then returns to focusing on the bills. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Johnny crack a small smile – which is even more rare than seeing Darry smile. I like it when he smiles, and I scratch at my cheeks to hide the blush.

Soon enough The sun has sunk behind the ground and from down the hall I can hear Darry asking Sodapop to rub his shoulders harder, otherwise he's going to put him to sleep. Massages are on of Sodapop's many desirable talents. I sit on the bed Ponyboy and I share as I reread 'The Jungle Book' for the fifth time. Money is usually so tight, so Darry can't afford to get new books for Ponyboy and me so we reread our favorites, instead. Our house is so small and we have such little space and it causes Ponyboy and me to have to share a bed. Sodapop used to be the one to sleep with Ponyboy, and I used to sleep with Darry, but his roofing job forces him to wake up much earlier and he doesn't want to disturb my sleep. As a solution, he moved Sodapop to the couch and me into Ponyboy's room. Sometimes Soda will come and squeeze in with us when Two-Bit or Steve crashes on our couch, which happens quite often.

Soon, Ponyboy comes into our bedroom and flops down on the bed next to me. I can tell that something is off with him, but I know he'll tell me he's fine if I ask him what's wrong. "That bruise makes you look real tough," I say, gesturing to his mangled cheek.

For a moment, my younger brother strokes the welt with a triumphant smile on his face. "I don't know if I like lookin' tough like this. It hurts a great lot."

"It isn't your fault that the Socs decided to attack with no real reason," I reassure him as I tuck a piece of ripped notebook paper between the pages of _'The Jungle Book'_ to save my place, then I snap the book shut.

"The only reason they need is because we're Greasers," Ponyboy says as he turns and shut the light off. "Do you think they'll ever leave us alone?"

"I don't know," I answer honestly. "I sure hope so. I'm tired of being afraid every single time I walk the streets alone. It's a free country, I should be able to walk down the sidewalk without being harassed."

"Are you coming to the Dingo with me, Dally and Johnny tomorrow?" Ponyboy asks, clearly wanting to change the subject.

"Yeah, I'll come," I respond as my teeth clasp around my lip for a moment, and then they release the skin. "I'll bring Rynn, too."

My brother smiles at the thought, and then he turns to look at me, although I can barely make out his facial features in the darkness. "You should talk to Johnny tomorrow. He'll be awful lonely."

"No he won't," I mumble in response with an unnoticeable blush in my cheeks. "He'll be talkin' to you and Dally."

"He'll want to talk to you."

"I don't think so."

"He will," my brother argues. "He got real excited when you told Dally you'd come."

"Maybe that's because he won't have to be locked up in that hellhole, and he'll be able to be with is friends," I detest.

"Johnny likes you real well, Kae. We talk about these kinds of things. He asks 'bout you a lot." Ponyboy nods.

"I don't think he likes me like a girlfriend," I say.

"I think he does. Just ask him tomorrow."

"I can't do that!"

"Stop bein' such a girl," my brother says with a shake of his head.

"I am a girl, you idiot," I laugh before turning on my back to look at the beam of moonlight shining through the blinds to our window. "Maybe I will ask him."

"That's right," Ponyboy says. "Be a man."

Without another word, I ball my fist and slam it into his shoulder, which renders a loud yelp to escape from his lips. "Don't be that manly," he scolds, rubbing his shoulder with his hand in discomfort.

The rest of the night between us is silent before our deep breathing as we sleep side-by-side. My dreams are of Johnny that night, and I kind of wish that they weren't, because when I woke up in the morning; Ponyboy was making fun of me with Two-Bit for the blush in my cheeks.


End file.
